Elsa
by quidditchandsonicscrewdrivers
Summary: Elsa is an eighteen year old girl living homeless on the streets of Richmond with something inside her that she can't explain. She's had a difficult life so far, but now that she's been recruited by Charles and Erik, things aren't going to get any easier. Just a whole lot stranger...
1. Prologue

Elsa

Prologue

**Disclaimer** - I don't own x-men, obviously

* * *

The backstreets of downtown Richmond were silent. The only sound was the echoing pitter patter of the previous night's rain expelling from the damaged rain gutters. The streets were black and shiny from the rain, and the street lights were flickering, although this wasn't wholly down to faulty electric lines. A fairly fat tabby cat lounged out on one of the rusty, slime covered dumpsters, enjoying the peaceful silence this particular back street brought.

The eerie quiet of the street was soon disturbed by the thuds of frantic footsteps. Not a moment later, a young girl tore down the alley, frightening the cat enough for it to fall back into the midst of trash bags in its dumpster home. The girl was tiny, only clearing five foot by an inch or two, and she had the gaunt look of someone who hadn't had a proper meal in a while, if she'd ever had one at all. She was attired in filthy brown slacks and a button down that looked as if it could have once been white. Her wiry, unkept dark hair was flattened to her head by a stained grey flat cap, her feet covered in tattered boots. A slightly torn messenger bag was slung over her shoulder, bouncing against her almost skeletal hip as she ran. Her breathing was haggard as she continued to run at full pelt down another alleyway, throwing a glance over her thin shoulder once to check how close her pursuers were. The answer was a few metres. Just behind her, two burly bald men were sprinting in hot pursuit, their venomous glares fixed on the retreating figure of the tiny girl.

"Get back here, you little bitch!" the slightly larger of the two wheezed out as he followed the girl who he knew to be the one who had pick pocketed him, quick to disappear off with the small bag of white powder he had went to great lengths to secure.

The girl had no desire to use what she had taken from the larger man's pocket, but she knew the substance would get her a couple of days worth of food, something she had been unable to acquire for the past two days. The girl, who had been named Elsa at birth, could feel her weak, underfed muscles grind together in effort as she kept pushing them to keep her moving. Her skin was hot with the build up of lactic acid but cold with the ever dropping temperature and the dampness of her clothing that still hadn't dried from yesterday's unfortunate change in weather. She could feel the close proximity her pursuers were getting to her and pushed with all her might to retain her lead on them, she didn't even want to think what they could possibly do to her if they caught up to her. She knew a lack of food would be the least of her problems in that instance.

Elsa's mind was racing at a mile a minute as she contemplated what options she had, she could keep running until her pursuers tired out and gave up, but she wasn't sure how long that would take, and she was almost certain she would be close to passing out before they even started to tire. She only knew of one other option she had...

Deciding on what she was going to do, she took a sharp turn down a more enclosed street, the echoing thuds of the two men's footfalls soon joining her own in the proximity of the alley. The street was partially lit by dull, moth covered lanterns that were bolted to the dark brick walls. It was the perfect place to execute her slightly reckless plan. Elsa focused her last remaining energy on the dull spark that was ever present in the bottom of her stomach and focused on the wall lanterns, relief flooding through her as they began to flicker out as she passed them, the spark in her stomach growing as she switched off the electricity in each of the lanterns. Thanks to the tall walls, their close proximity to each other and the impressive cloud cover Richmond currently had, without the lanterns, the alleyway phased into complete darkness.

"What the...?" came the grunt of one of Elsa's pursuers as the last remaining light in the backstreet faded into nothing.

Elsa smirked in elated satisfaction as she began to feel her way along the wall, happy when she found the corner that led into an even smaller street, thankfully void of light.

"Where'd she go?" exclaimed the man she had pick pocketed, his tone laced with confusion and unadulterated anger, "The little bitch."

Elsa pressed her tiny body up against one of the walls of the street she had chosen as her sanctuary, trying to control her lungs' desperate attempts for breath, her more or less flat chest heaving.

"She won't be able to see either, we'll keep going," one of the men commanded, "We'll ambush the bitch in the dark."

Elsa let out a breath of intense relief as the sound of her pursuers passed by her as they struggled in the dark, thinking they were still on her tail.

"That was quite impressive."

Elsa let out a small scream that was muffled by the feeling of someone's hand being placed over her mouth, not hard enough to cause her pain but with pressure to stop any sound she might make from escaping. Elsa struggled weakly against her captor but found it futile, the person holding her, undeniably a man, was strong and held her in place with ease.

"I would appreciate it if you stopped fighting me," came a different voice from the first, this one was deeper and had an underlying trace of something European, he had the accent of someone well travelled. The first voice, still definitely a man's was all together softer, kinder and was undeniably British.

Elsa let her body relax against her captor and waited for whatever fate these men had in store for her. Elsa had lived on the streets long enough to know that no man, or any person for that matter, that approached her was doing so in kindness.

"Good girl," praised the English man, "Now could you, please, turn the lights back on so we could all get a proper look at each other."

Elsa felt her brow furrow together in confusion at the thought that this man could possibly know it had been her who had cut off all electricity in the street. Despite her confusion, Elsa concentrated on the feeling in the pit of her stomach and was reward with all the lanterns in the street blinking on simultaneously. Light immediately flooded the street and she got her first proper look at the two men. The one who had held her was tall and muscular with dark hair and a strong jaw, overall, in Elsa's opinion, he looked menacing in an underlying sort of way. The English man, who Elsa gathered was entirely kinder than his companion, was smaller, although still loomed over Elsa's tiny stature, his hair was fair and his eyes a lovely shade of blue.

"That's much better," the English man smiled, "Erik, you can let our little friend go."

"What if she runs?" the man named Erik asked, his hand still pressed firmly over Elsa's mouth, in all honesty, she was fighting the instinct to bite it.

"I think our friend here is far too curious about how we know it was her to turn off all the electricity in the street to go anywhere," the still nameless English man told Erik, "An impressive trick, I might add."

With a warning glare thrown in Elsa's direction, Erik slowly removed his large hand from her mouth and she fought the temptation to bolt, the English man had been right, she was far too curious for her own good.

"That's better," the English man smiled, "Hello."

"Hi," Elsa answered, her vocal chords, that had been left unused for quite a while now, had her voice sounding gruff and strained.

"Let me introduce myself," the English man began with what Elsa saw as a suspiciously kind smile, "My name is Charles Xavier, and this is my good friend Erik Lensherr. It's a pleasure to meet you, Elsa Miller."

"How did...how do you know my name?" Elsa asked, looking at the fair-haired man who had introduced himself as Charles with suspicion.

"You see, Elsa, my friend Erik and I are like you," Charles explained, although rather cryptically in Elsa's opinion.

"What do you mean?" Elsa asked, her voice sounding small and unsure to her own ears.

Charles didn't say anything but he looked towards his taller companion and Elsa shifted her gaze to the man called Erik. He wasn't looking at either Charles or Elsa, but over their heads at one of the newly re-lit lanterns on the adjacent alleyway. The bolted metal started to creak and groan under Erik's hard gaze, before it came completely free from the wall and clattered to the floor, the scrape of metal against concrete resounding down the backstreets and Elsa was suddenly worried her previous pursuers would hear and come and investigate. But that worry soon disappeared from her mind and was replaced with realisation. This man, he could control...

"...metal?" Elsa voiced her thoughts, her voice weak as she gazed up in half-wonder, half-fear at the tall man looming over her.

Erik sent her a small smile that Elsa gathered was rare of him to do so.

"Exactly," Charles smiled at her, "Elsa, you're not alone anymore."

Elsa stared at the two men she now gathered were exactly like her, whatever she was, quite unable to believe it. For so many years she had believed that she alone in this world possessed a strange power, her overly religious parents had certainly believed she was some sort of anti-Christ when her power had started to develop. It had been enough for them to throw their twelve year old daughter out on the streets six years ago.

Elsa was very aware of Charles watching her with evident pity in his blue eyes, "But I must say, Elsa," Charles began, stepping towards her and extending a slow hand into her treasured messenger bag, and Elsa found herself compliant to Charles' invasive reach, "You won't be needing this where you're going."

Elsa watched as Charles held up the small, clear bag she had stolen from her pursuers what felt like hours ago, and then as he let it fall to the ground.

"Don't worry, Elsa," Charles smiled kindly down at her, "We're going to look after you."

And Elsa believed him.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

_So, I was bored on a train to London and this was the product. Let me know what you think and if I should continue or not._

_Thanks._


	2. The Mutants

Elsa

Chapter 1 - The Mutants

* * *

The enclosed space of the sleek, black Sedan, Erik and Charles had borrowed from the CIA, was soon becoming overwhelmed with the smells of sweat and garbage, a fact Elsa was becoming uncomfortably aware of. She knew the increasingly awful stench was coming from her and she had never noticed the smell that had infused itself in her skin and clothing before, that is until she was sat in the small space of the back seat that, prior to her arrival, had only had that new car smell - not that Elsa was familiar with that odour. Elsa glanced uncomfortably at her new companions, noting that both of them were breathing through their mouths, the fact neither had commented on her smell didn't ease her embarrassment any.

"So, where _are _we going?" Elsa asked, directing her question mainly at Charles who she found she liked far better than his European companion.

Charles glanced at his friend sitting in the driver's set before looking over his shoulder at Elsa, "We're heading to the headquarters of the CIA, there's others like us waiting there."

"Others like us?" Elsa asked, unsurely.

"Yes," Charles nodded, "We are all very special, Elsa. We all have abilities that are caused by a mutation in our genes. That's why we have adopted the term mutants for ourselves."

"Mutants..." Elsa pondered, trying the word out on her tongue.

For as long as her power had manifested, Elsa had never been able to explain or understand what was inside her, and she had lived through the last six years of her life thinking she was alone, thinking she was a freak. To hear that there were others like her, other 'mutants'... She didn't have a word for the emotion she felt inside her.

"Charles, what's your ability? Your mu...mutation?" Elsa asked curiously, stammering slightly over the unfamiliar word, "I mean, Erik can control metal. And, well, I can control electricity... What can you control?"

Charles chuckled lightly to himself before he glanced at Elsa again, "What you must understand, Elsa, is that mutations come in all forms. I cannot control anything, per se. I am, in fact, a telepath."

"A telepath?" Elsa asked, her head cocking to the side slightly in her confusion. Life on the streets had spared no time for Elsa to be educated. 'Telepath' was a word that Elsa had never heard before.

Charles smiled warmly at her, but Elsa couldn't help but notice the pity that was apparent in his eyes, "Telepathy is the art of what is commonly known as mind reading. In other words, my mutation allows me to tell what those around me are thinking, and I also have the ability of mind control."

"Sounds complicated," Elsa muttered, trying to wrap her head around the idea, "Is that how you knew my name? And that it was me who turned off all the electricity?"

"Yes," Charles replied, "Erik and I have been seeking out mutants, using a contraption that allows, well, let's just say for me to send out brain waves, I can see where any mutants are."

Elsa wasn't so uneducated that she couldn't tell that Charles was simplifying his explanation for her, and she couldn't help but wonder whether he thought she was stupid. Elsa nodded slowly and turned to look out the window, pressing her forehead up against the glass. She watched as the city of Richmond disappeared behind her and Elsa wasn't sad to see it go, for her that city brought memories of hunger and fear and a fight for survival. Elsa's gaze slid to the side mirror on her side of the car, she could see Erik sitting in the driver's seat, with her flushed face peering over his shoulder. Her pale face was all angles and harsh features, her cheekbones were too prominent to be considered pretty and her jaw too strong, her nose too long and thin and her icy blue eyes were overly hooded and bloodshot in both corners. Elsa sighed and slumped back in her seat, allowing her gaze to fall back to the window.

"Why were you looking for mutants in the first place?" Elsa asked.

"The CIA are recruiting for a new mutants division," Erik explained, speaking for the first time, "It'll be explained to you better later, I presume."

Elsa nodded once in comprehension and as she did she caught a whiff of the smell coming from her clothing.

"Does this CIA place have a shower?" she couldn't help but ask and she felt weirdly comforted by the two low chuckles that sounded from the front seat.

* * *

When the car finally stopped they had arrived at a large building with a pale exterior, and Elsa couldn't help but stare. She had never seen a building like it. Erik and Charles both pushed their doors open and stepped out, closing their doors simultaneously behind them. Elsa fumbled with the handle of the door for a second before she managed to push the door open, sliding out of the car and pressing it closed behind her.

"Elsa, welcome to the Covert CIA Research Base," Charles smiled at her as he walked over to her, pressing his hand on her back to lead her forward.

"Research base?" Elsa asked as she stared around, studying a bunch of men in pristine suits who walked past, their wary gazes falling on the three of them.

"This is the CIA's off-site facility where you'll be staying for the foreseeable future," Charles explained.

"I still don't understand what you want from me," Elsa admitted as they stepped into the building, "Is this some sort of police station?"

Elsa had seen the inside of a police station quite a few times and there was some similarities to the buildings belonging to the authorities.

"No," Charles chuckled, "We're not arresting you, Elsa."

Elsa wondered how Charles could have known that was what she was thinking, until she remembered that Charles had explained that he could read minds. Feeling rather stupid, she followed Erik and Charles as they led her down one of the vast corridors of the Research Base.

"There's someone I want you to meet, Elsa," Charles said to her and looked up as a pretty girl started down the corridor towards them.

"Charles," the girl greeted and then turned to smile down at Elsa, "Hi, I'm Raven."

"Elsa," she replied, looking at her feet, feeling incredibly disgusting next to the beautiful blonde woman.

As she studied Raven, Elsa couldn't help but notice how different they were. Raven's features were as soft as Elsa's were harsh, the taller girl's skin had a slight tan to it were as Elsa's skin was so pale it was borderline transparent. Raven's hair was blonde and healthy, making Elsa's dark, tangled, greasy hair look even more horrid. Raven was in no way fat but her body was laden with soft curves in all the right places, compared to Elsa's painfully thin body, hers was all sharp angles and sticking out bones.

"Nice to meet you, Elsa," Raven smiled warmly at her, thankfully, making no comment about Elsa's appearance or stench, "You'll probably want to get tidied up, it'll have been a long and painful drive with these two losers."

Elsa felt the corners of her lips turn up into the first smile that had adorned her face for as long as she could remember, her pale lips cracking at the action.

Raven led her through to a room, leaving her two escorts behind them. that It was a basically decorated room with numerous bunk-beds and a single wardrobe being the only furniture.

"There's a shower through here," Raven explained, pointing to a door on the other side of the room, "You'll find everything you need through there, shampoo, soap, towels, a comb."

Elsa nodded mutely, barely able to comprehend the thought of being able to wash with the products Raven had listed off.

"I'll dig you out something of mine," Raven continued, "Anything I have will probably hang off you but it's better than what you've got, I suppose. Just leave your clothes in the bathroom, we'll get rid of them later."

Again, Elsa nodded in comprehension as Raven led her to the door and opened it, leading to a small and simple bathroom. The blonde stepped forward and turned the facet on for the smaller girl, she was thankful as she wouldn't have known how to do so herself.

"Um- enjoy your shower," Raven smiled and left Elsa alone in the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Elsa began to strip her clothes off, fully appreciating how filthy they were as she shed them and bundled them into a corner, the dirt and grime a stark contrast to the white tiles of the bathroom. Hesitantly, and making sure no excess static electricity laced her skin (as it had been known to do sometimes), she stepped into the shower and gasped at the feeling of the warm water hitting her dirt-clad body. She let the water batter against her skin, standing motionlessly as the water turned brown as it hit the floor of the shower. How had this happened to her? Barely a few hours ago, she had awoken on a street corner underneath a bundle of foul blankets, now she was actually showering in a fancy research base with a bunch of people who claimed to be like her. She hadn't even spared a thought to whether what she had gotten herself into was safe or not. Charles and Erik had both proved that they weren't lying about being 'mutants', but did that necessarily mean they had her best interests at heart? Erik certainly could be a villain. But right now, what else could she do but trust them? She was currently standing, naked, in their headquarters and had no idea how to even get back to the city centre. And even if she did, did she want to? Even if Erik and Charles had something bad planned for her, was it going to be as bad as what she had left behind? Elsa figured it wouldn't be.

With a sigh, Elsa grabbed one of the bottles that were standing on the shelf in the shower. Reading the label to discover she had been right in picking up the soap first. She poured a dollop into her hand and worked it over her already much cleaner skin, enjoying the smell and feel of it infusing into her skin. Next, she grabbed the bottled labelled 'shampoo' and squeezed some of it out into her hand, and then reached up to work it into her straggly, long hair. She massaged the bubbling, concoction into her scalp, sighing audibly at the feeling. Her fingers kept getting caught in the most likely irreversible tangles that clung to her hair, but as she rinsed the last of the bubbles from her hair she knew her hair hadn't been as clean in close to six years.

After a couple of failed attempts to turn off the faucet, she managed, and then stepped out of the shower, grabbing one of the rough, standard-issue towels and wrapped it around her damp body. Unsurely, she pushed the door of the bathroom open, stepping back into the bedroom, but stopped in her tracks when she noticed an unfamiliar figure facing away from her.

"Sorry, um, do you know where Raven is?" Elsa asked the guy standing in the room, watching as he spun around to look at her and she became suddenly aware she was standing in just a towel, her soaking hair dripping into the floor.

"She- she uh, just left," the guy told her, his voice deep and rough.

Elsa felt incredibly uncomfortable under his hard gaze, and couldn't help but be reminded of some of the men she encountered on the streets, the criminals and drug dealers. He was tall and muscular, muscles straining underneath his pale skin. His hair was blond and his features were conventionally handsome, if not a little hard. He looked to be around the same age as Elsa, eighteen, nineteen at most.

"Do you, uh, do you know if she left any clothes for me?" Elsa mumbled nervously, shifting her gaze to her newly cleaned bare feet.

"No, well, I don't know," the boy answered, "She told me I could come in here and change so, yeah..."

Elsa just nodded and let her gaze study the bedroom, looking for any spare clothes lying around, only to find nothing.

She finally allowed her line of sight to flitter back to the nameless guy and watched as his face scrunched up somewhat and he blurted out, "God, do you smell that?"

Elsa, suddenly rather flustered, just shook her head before turning back into the bathroom, flipping on the faucet and stepped in. Scrubbing her skin furiously.

* * *

After Elsa's second shower, she was relieved when she exited the bathroom and saw the blond boy had left the room, instead Raven was sitting on the edge of one of the beds, examining her nails.

"Hi, Elsa," Raven smiled when she stepped into the room, "Did you enjoy your shower?"

"Yes, thank you," Elsa answered.

"I got some clothes for you," the blonde informed her, holding out a small pile of material, "I'll, um, I'll turn around to let you get changed."

Raven handed her the pile of clothing and Elsa thanked her quietly and studied the clothes she had been handed. The pile consisted of: a navy, cotton dress and a long gray cardigan. Raven had even thrown in a pair of underwear and what Elsa recognised as a pair of sheer pantyhose. A pair of navy ballet pumps was also included. As Raven turned her back, Elsa quickly threw on the clothes Raven had given her (struggling with the pantyhose for a minute or two).

"That's me ready," Elsa told the blonde and smiled at her when she turned around to study her.

"Yeah, I knew those clothes would hang off you," Raven admitted, "Best I had though."

"No, they're fine, great even," Elsa reassured her, "Thank you."

"It's no problem, honestly," Raven smiled, "You're with us now. We have to stick together. Now let's fix that hair of yours."

Raven led Elsa over to the bed nearest and got her to sit down on the edge, climbing in behind her with her comb at the ready. Raven immediately began to work on the tangles in Elsa's dark hair, being surprisingly gentle considering how knotted her hair actually was.

"Maybe we should just cut it all off," Elsa suggested as Raven pulled at a particularly tangled strand of hair.

"No. We are not cutting this hair off," Raven chimed from behind her, "We just have to persevere. Trust me, I'll make it pretty again."

"I don't think my hair has ever been pretty," Elsa admitted shyly.

She heard Raven sigh from behind her, but the blonde didn't add anything. They sat in a mostly comfortable silence as Raven continued to work on Elsa's dark hair, the latter continually cringing as the blonde worked relentlessly to detangle her hair.

"You're the last mutant to get here," Raven told her, breaking the silence, "I mean, they were going to leave it as it is, but Charles saw where you were, and, well, that you were a...well, that you were a street urchin."

"And he felt sorry for me," Elsa mumbled.

"He just wanted to save you," Raven replied, "I think he has a bit of a hero complex. I was alone, and homeless, when I was a kid. He saved me."

Elsa simply nodded.

"That's us done, I think," Raven told her, and climbed around her, hopping off the bed.

"Thank you," Elsa smiled gratefully, marvelling at the feeling of managing to pull her fingers through her hair without them getting caught.

"It's no problem," Raven answered, earnestly, and Elsa believed her sincerity, "Oh, so sorry I forgot, I brought you this."

Raven walked over to the bed she had sat on before and picked up a package wrapped in silver foil, handing it over to Elsa. Curiously, she unwrapped the foil and found a simple baguette inside, filled with what looked like ham and salad.

"It's not much, but I figured you'd want to eat something," Raven offered.

Elsa had barely mumbled her gratitude before she had shoved the bread into her mouth, barely chewing.

"Make sure you don't choke yourself, Elsa," Raven laughed and Elsa swallowed audibly, forcing the food down into her empty stomach.

It took her less than two minutes to finish the sandwich and she thanked Raven again.

"Come on, I think it's time you met everyone else," the blonde smiled, and linked her arm through Elsa's, pulling her from the room.

* * *

Elsa was now sat in between two complete strangers. Earlier, Raven had led her into some sort of living area that consisted of two large leather couches and two matching armchairs. There was some sort of arcade game in the corner and there were numerous lights hanging from the ceiling. Raven had introduced her to the group of mutants that had been already sitting in the room and Elsa quickly noticed the blond guy she had met earlier was sat among them. They looked like a friendly group of people, and Elsa didn't feel entirely uncomfortable in their presence. Although, she did shift awkwardly when she felt the guy whose name she now knew was Alex's hard gaze on her.

"We should think of code names," Raven said, starting a conversation, "We're government agents now, we should have secret code names."

On the way to the room she was currently in, Raven had explained the situation they were in in more detail than either Charles or Erik had. Elsa now knew what the CIA were and why her and her fellow mutants were here. She wasn't sure she understood entirely.

"I wanna be called Mystique," Raven continued, smiling slightly at her new name.

"Damn, I wanted to be called Mystique," the boy with the longish hair she now knew as Sean remarked and the mutants around them sniggered and Elsa realised he had been joking.

"Well, tough, I called it," Raven responded, "And I'm way more mysterious than you."

Except it wasn't Raven who had said that last part. Except it was. Elsa stared in awestruck wonder as Raven morphed quickly into an exact replica of Sean. Elsa hadn't thought to ask what Raven's mutation was, and she was completely gobsmacked by the power her new friend possessed. And apparently, the mutants around her shared her opinion as they all let out noises of amazement, some applauding.

"Darwin, what about you?" Raven asked as she easily morphed back to herself, looking at the dark skinned man who was sat on Elsa's left.

"Well, uh, Darwin's already a nickname," Darwin explained, "And it sorta fits. Adapt to survive and all. Check this out."

Elsa watched on in confusion as Darwin stood up from his place on the couch and wandered over to the fish tank in the corner and she felt her mouth pop open in surprise when the slightly older man (considering everyone else in the room was in their teens, early twenties at most) sent his face flying into the water. Her mouth widened even more as her jaw dropped when the man developed gills on the sides of his face. Adapt to survive. Everyone around her started to applaud him as he pulled his face from the water and Elsa joined in in amazement. She suddenly felt nervous that her power wouldn't compare to her company's.

"That's incredible," the bespectacled boy named Hank muttered.

"Thank you, thank you," Darwin smiled at his audience, "What about you?"

Darwin had directed his comment towards Sean.

"I'm going to be..." Sean muttered, pondering what he was going to say, "...Banshee."

"Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" Hank asked the newly named Banshee.

"You might want to cover your ears," Sean told the group as he stood up, moving to the middle of the room.

Everyone hesitantly lifted their hands to their ears and Elsa followed suit, placing her fingers in her ears. She watched as Sean took a deep breath and let out a high pitched whistle, so high pitched that the glass that covered up the majority of the wall shattered instantly. Everyone made their amazement known, and Elsa noticed Sean's pale cheeks were tinged ever so slightly pink.

"Your turn," Sean said, looking at the dark skinned, pretty girl on Elsa's other side, the girl Elsa had learned was a stripper.

"Well, my _stage name _is Angel," the girl in question told them as she stood up, taking off her cardigan. They all watched as what had appeared to be tattoos over her shoulders and back started to come away from her tanned skin and formed what looked like wings, "Kinda fits."

"You can fly!?" Raven cried in sheer amazement.

"Uh-huh," Angel smirked, nonchalantly, "And uh-"

They all continued to watch Angel as she turned around to the now shattered window, breathed deep and spit. Except rather than saliva flying from her mouth, a small ball of fire flew from her mouth in a wide arch and hit the head of the statue that stood in the middle of the square outside.

"Whoa!" Raven gasped and her gasp of amazement was joined by others.

"What's your name?" Angel asked Hank as she sat down next to Elsa again.

"How about Big Foot?" came the deep voice of Alex as he spoke for the first time, his tone, obvious even to Elsa, was mocking.

"Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet..." Raven responded, although Elsa wasn't sure she did know (but she didn't voice her confusion), "And, well, yours are kinda small."

Everyone, except Elsa and Alex, laughed at Raven's comment.

"What about you, Elsa?" Raven's friendly face turned to the girl who had been silent up until now.

Elsa felt her stomach do a flip in nervousness as everyone's gaze fell on her, "Um, I don't mind..." she answered, her voice small, "As long as it's not Sparky, or something."

"Why Sparky?" Hank asked her, his head cocked to the side in curiosity.

"Well..." Elsa muttered and stood up, letting her gaze fall upon the many ceiling lights that hung from up above. Straight away, every one of the lights began to flicker on and off.

"You can control electricity?" Darwin asked from beside her, and Elsa was overjoyed to hear some amazement in his voice, "Wow."

Elsa's pale skin flushed as there was murmurs of agreement around the group.

Until Alex commented in his rough voice, "So she can turn the lights on and off. Big deal."

Elsa paled and spun around to look at the blond boy, her gaze hardening as she looked on him.

"Well, that's not all I can do," she told him as she stepped over to walk around him, stretching out a hand to rest it on his shoulder.

She focused everything on the static electricity that was always forcing its way to the surface of her skin, trying her best to externalise it. When she felt it rush over her body, she directed it to the hand that was currently resting on Alex's muscular shoulder. Making sure the energy that she sent onto the blond boy's body wasn't enough to stun him, but was enough to hurt. This all took Elsa less than a moment to achieve, and she felt a satisfied smile tug onto her face as Alex's whole body convulsed in shock and he let out a small cry of a mixture of surprise and pain.

The group of mutants surrounding them all laughed and applauded her and she smiled even wider at the appreciation coming from her new friends. Except, of course, the victim of her electrical attack. Alex stood up abruptly, his impressive height looming over Elsa's tiny frame, his already hard gaze was almost scary. That is, it would have been scary to Elsa had she not spent the last six years of her life living rough on the streets of Richmond - she had encountered far scarier men in her time. So, in response, Elsa glared right back at the blond boy, not letting his angry glare or looming height intimidate her.

"_So_, not Sparky," Raven said loudly, trying to diffuse the horrible tension that had arisen between Elsa and Alex.

Throwing one last glare in Alex's direction, Elsa turned on her heel and stalked back to her original seat.

"How about Volt?" Hank offered and Elsa couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to impress Raven.

"Not nearly good enough," Raven dismissed Hank's suggestion, unaware of the deflated look that flashed onto the bespectacled mutant's face, "Chaos."

Elsa watched as everyone nodded in agreement at Raven's suggestion and she smiled at the blonde and said, "Great..."

Then Elsa turned her attention back to the boy she had given an electric shock not two minutes ago, "So, if what I can do is so _unimpressive. _What can you do? What's your power?"

And for the first time since she'd met him, Alex looked uncomfortable as he refused to meet her challenging gaze, "Uh- it's not, um..."

"Scared?" Elsa asked, keeping her tone light and mocking.

"No!" Alex retorted immediately, his angry gaze snapping to her before he became uncomfortable again, "I just- I just can't do it... I can't do it in here."

"Can you do it out there?" Darwin suggested.

"Yeah, why don't you just do it out there?" Raven added.

And then everyone joined in with encouragements and not a second passed before their company started chanting Alex's name. Elsa didn't join in, however, she just stared at Alex, sending him a silent challenge in her gaze. The blond watched her for another moment before he stood up and made his way to the window.

"That's the spirit," Darwin encouraged.

They all stood up to watch from the window as Alex stepped out into the square outside, glass crunching under his shoes.

"Get down when I tell you," Alex instructed in his deep voice.

However, the group of mutants all peered around the wall they had piled behind.

"Get back!" Alex demanded.

And that they did. Well, at least for a moment before their curiosity got the better of them and the peered around again.

"Get back!" Alex insisted.

But this time the mutants stayed where they were, desperate to see this power Alex was too scared to demonstrate inside the building.

"Whatever," he muttered to himself.

They all watched as he grasped his hands into fists and they seen his body straining as he tried to gather his power together. Then, all of a sudden, a large ring of red energy started to circle Alex's body and then more appeared, and they all went flying around the square around them, one of them cutting the statue cleanly in half. The audience of mutants all gasped and darted out of the way as the rings of energy went haywire. But not a moment later, they disappeared to leave behind Alex standing in the smoke, looking expectantly, and almost nervously, at his fellow mutants.

"Wow," Elsa was the first to speak and soon everyone was joining in, applauding and complimenting Alex's power. As Raven jumped up and down in excitement and Sean whistled lowly, Elsa caught Alex's gaze and smiled at him ever so slightly. The blond mutant didn't return her smile, but she noticed his eyes softened ever so slightly. _It's progress_, she noted to herself.

Maybe, now, with these odd bunch of people, one of which she was pretty sure hated her. She had finally found her place of belonging.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE.**

_Thank you to _**ArtemisLuna85 **_and _**ScarletFishcake **_for their lovely reviews. Thanks guys._

_Thanks also to those who alerted/favourited. It means a lot._


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